Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 294 Game console sales surpass one billion

Although he complained, Warsaw knew in his heart that he had no choice. If he wanted to keep his job, he had to work hard.

A month passed in tireless work day and night. The new game was finally developed a week before Christmas. The next week was dedicated to mass production and distribution, in anticipation of its Christmas sales success.

Meanwhile, WarnerMedia's advertising campaign was also ubiquitous, appearing in newspapers, on television, and on billboards on every street corner, especially in Hollywood, where similar ads could be seen every few steps.

When it comes to advertising, Warner Music is definitely a professional.

Inside a luxury villa in Hollywood.

The young and beautiful actress Meryl Streep stood at the window, watching the setting sun, her face once again showing a melancholy expression, her expressive eyes filled with depression.

"The sun will always set, so life will pass away in the sunset. Is this the destiny of life?"

“Meryl, our movie is finished filming. You shouldn’t be so depressed anymore.” Beside her, her agent said helplessly, “Come on, Meryl, Warner Bros. has released a new game. Come and play it to relax.”

She is a very dedicated actress who won an Oscar for her role in "Kramer vs. Kramer." Her latest film, "Sophie's Choice," has not yet been released, but everyone predicts it will be another blockbuster. This actress is not only beautiful but also possesses a versatile acting ability.

Her dedication to acting is unparalleled. To play the role of a Polish mother in this film, she taught herself Polish and lost 13 kilograms. Then... during filming, she became so immersed in the role that she actually became depressed.

Filming has finished, but she still can't shake off the role.

"game?"

“That’s right, this is the latest model.” The agent said, taking out a game cartridge and inserting it into the game console.

"You should know the movie 'Destroy the Galaxy,' right? This game is based on the movie."

On the television screen, a crudely produced image appeared. Meryl's hand had just picked up the controller, but before she could even start, she was killed by the monster.

boom!
A blood-red blob appeared on the television screen.

Snapped!
The controller fell to the ground.

"Oh no, no, games full of violence shouldn't exist in the world!" She suddenly grabbed the ashtray and smashed it against the game console.
She smashed the game console, and her agent was dumbfounded. Had this actress already reached the point of losing control of her emotions?
"Don't worry, wait a moment, I'll go get your family doctor. You'll need..."

"roll!"

Half an hour later, when the agent rushed back with the family doctor, they saw the actress, who had almost lost control, holding a controller for a new game console and... playing a game?

Beside her was a young man, who looked like a college student, explaining the operating instructions to her. On the screen, little figures were jumping around, and the scene looked particularly... heartwarming?
"The ultimate goal of our game is to rescue Princess Peach Blossom. You will need to overcome numerous obstacles and defeat many challenges..."

"Wow, I did it! I took down another bad guy..."

The next moment, Mario fell to the ground.

The fight was not intense and there was no bloodshed or violence.

"Mario, get up! We need to rescue Princess Peach!"

Mario quickly got up and resumed the battle.

“Meryl’s emotions are stable and she doesn’t need treatment,” the family doctor said. “She’s doing very well. This game has a therapeutic effect; just make sure she doesn’t play games that contain violence or explicit content…”

"Okay, got it."

The agent frowned as he looked at the broken game. "How could Atari games be this bad? They're not even as good as the Huaxin FC!"

“Ms. Meryl, I see you’re having a good time. My mission is finished, and I must take my leave,” the young man said.

"Wait, are there any other... similar games?"

"Yes, there are simple block games. Although they are simple, they are great for passing the time."

As you change cartridges, small squares soon appear on the screen. With a beeping sound, the squares fall to the ground, and then the next one appears. Once a row is completed, the squares disappear.

This game is simple, but... it's very engaging!
"Great, great!" the agent nodded. "How much is this game console? I want to buy one too."

"$199, cassettes $20 each."

It's another deal, and today's success is just the beginning. Soon, the whole of Hollywood will be his target market. After Christmas, his commission alone will be thousands of dollars, enough to cover his tuition for next semester!

In the United States, ordinary people can only attend public schools, which implement the concept of happy education. They play happily, grow up happily and work as screws. If their salary is not enough, they can work two jobs. If that's still not enough, they can sell their blood.

As for the elite class, they all attend private schools from a young age, pay exorbitant tuition fees, and receive cramming-style education. Happiness? It doesn't exist. Just like Hengshui High School, they study from morning till night. Studying can never be joyful. For children, to unleash their nature, that means playing.

Many families, in order to cultivate their children's independence, will stop paying for their education after they start university. Once they become adults, they will have to rely on their own efforts to secure scholarships and loans, and they will need to take on various jobs during their university years.

Being a salesperson is one such job, and the income is quite good.

Throughout the United States, countless college students became salespeople during this Christmas break, and Huaxin FC entered thousands of households through their hands.

On the one hand, there was the hot sales of Huaxin FC; on the other hand, there was extreme disgust towards Atari's shoddy games.

New York, an affluent neighborhood.

"Hey, Old John, why did you throw out game cartridges like trash?"

"No, it's not that I'm treating the game cartridge as trash, it's that this game cartridge is trash to begin with. I'll never trust Atari games again, and I can't trust Warner's advertising either. This new game is poorly made, and it even has a few bugs. You'll get stuck at a certain level. The elements in it are not suitable for children. Since it's trash, it has to be thrown away."

"Really? I was thinking of buying one for the child too..."

"If you're going to buy one, you should still get the HuaXin FC. The games on it are really good. They've already released three, and each one is a real eye-opener..."

"Okay, I'll go buy it now, but... I don't think they have it in the mall?"

"They're not available in the mall. I heard it's because Atari is suppressing them. They've made an agreement with the mall not to sell Huaxin's game consoles."

"This is outrageous!"

"Yes, but I have a salesman's phone number here. I can buy it from him. This salesman is a student at Columbia University..."

"Okay, give me your phone number, I'll go buy it right now!"

Similar scenes are playing out across the country. In a community or a school, if even one person buys Atari's latest game, they will express extreme dissatisfaction, and others who originally wanted to buy it will change their minds and turn to buy Huaxin FC instead.

Time passed day by day, and finally, the day before Christmas arrived.

Tall Christmas trees appeared by the roadside, and Santa Clauses walked the streets, each carrying a game cartridge.

"Huaxin FC, the latest Contra game, is on Christmas sale for only $18.8!"

It's not much different from $20, but as soon as I hear the name Huaxin FC, I can't help but want to buy it. Every game is very interesting, and the new Contra is no exception.

"I'll teach you. When you get back, you'll need a password to access your twenty lives..."

"Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right? Okay, it's blown up!" Soon, Santa's game cartridges were sold out.

A villa in Cambridge, near MIT.

"Hey, here, this is your Christmas present: a new game."

"Hmph, what game, Duoduo? Do you know how much this game console has ruined our MIT students? Countless people are skipping classes and spending all their time playing games in their dorms..."

"Damn it, that's because they lack willpower and can't resist the allure of video games. People like that, even after they start working, might still lack focus for various reasons. These are the people who will be eliminated. Wouldn't it be better to let them make a choice in university first?"

Yang Tian was so angry he almost laughed. He didn't care what business his daughter did, but using MIT as a tool was going too far.

"Damn it, if you keep wearing that long face, I'm leaving!"

"Okay, okay, it's Christmas Eve tonight, shall we have turkey?"

"No, damn it, we're Chinese, we don't celebrate Christmas. Turkey meat is so tough, it's really hard to eat. I'll make you some authentic Eastern dishes."

We don't celebrate Christmas yet!

Yang Tian looked at his daughter again: "You must have made a lot of money this time?"

"Not many, only two million units were produced, and they have all been sold. Including the cassettes, the sales revenue is only five hundred million."

Five hundred million!

Yang Tian's eyes widened. A brand new game console, targeted and lacking sales channels, yet it still sold for five hundred million US dollars! This is simply...

Jingle Bell……

"Hey."

"Mr. Yang, please come to the company quickly! Many large sales companies have called, and some have even sent purchasing agents, hoping to cooperate with our Pacific Trading Company..."

The West is capitalist, and all companies are driven by profit. Warner Bros. made all sorts of promises of benefits before they stopped selling the Huaxin FC and waited eagerly for Atari's new games.

did not expect……

This game simply isn't selling! All their inventory is piling up, and after comparing it to Contra released at Christmas, they finally understand: Atari is finished. Their poorly made games simply can't compare to the Huaxin FC! So, they have to salvage the situation!
Although tonight is Christmas Eve and Christmas is over, according to their statistics, many people are still upset about not being able to buy Huaxin FC. They hope to continue purchasing, so even though Christmas is over, it will still be a hot seller.

We must make up for the losses!
Boston, Pacific Trade Group.

"Everyone, all the goods we stocked up for Christmas are sold out. So even if you place an order now, it will take about a month for us to send the order to the factory, produce it, and ship it over. You need to think carefully about whether sales will still be as good as they are now after this month. If there is a backlog, we will not be responsible for returns."

Yang Duo'er needed time to arrive, so Daisy took charge of receiving these people. By this time, she had shed her former naivety and appeared quite experienced.

They didn't cooperate with us before and had a superior attitude. Now that they've come to us on their own initiative, don't expect us to offer the best terms. No returns are the first requirement. What if you can't sell them and then come to us for returns? Wouldn't we lose money?
Who knows if this is a conspiracy by Atari or even Warner behind it?
"No problem. We've done our market research. Your Huaxin FC only sold two million units. We estimate the market for this type of game console to be at least ten million units, leaving a market demand of eight million units. Walmart hopes to order two million units, and ideally, they should all arrive within a month."

In the past few months, we've opened up the US market, but the total sales of our game consoles were only two million units. Now, just one Walmart supermarket wants to order two million units!

This is the difference between home sales and chain supermarkets!
Daisy was overjoyed. Next, she would monopolize the American market and completely dethrone Atari!

“That’s right, we also anticipate a market of ten million units, so Kroger hopes to order one million units!”

Soon, the number of orders soared to five million units. Obviously, they were also afraid of stockpiling goods, so even though they estimated the market to have ten million units, they cautiously reduced their purchases.

"We at Walmart have the largest order volume. We not only demand priority in receiving goods, but we also demand that we be the first to stock your new games after they are released!"

Huaxin FC produces classic games. Once the console market becomes saturated, the next market will be game cartridges. This is a long-term partnership.

"Our other companies are asking to order together!"

Yang Duo'er had been standing at the door for a while, then... she turned and left. She could leave it to Daisy; she didn't need to get involved in this kind of thing anymore. The market here had already been fully established!
Some people are happy that someone is worried.

Atari was in dire straits at this time.

"Our game cartridges are experiencing a massive number of returns!" Manny Gerard's face darkened. "After Christmas, when the stock market reopens, Warner Bros.' stock price will plummet, so... can anyone tell me what's going on?"

Bushnell remained silent.

"Warsaw, you developed this game, you have to take responsibility for it!"

Warsaw's face was grim: "I already said this beforehand, this is a terrible game. It's violent and erotic, which is not what the market needs at all, and there's still such a short time... In the past few years, we've been on the wrong track. We keep developing new games, and although we've made money on the surface, in reality, because we haven't produced any high-quality games, our games have started to be disliked by users. The current result is... to be expected. Even I myself am playing Contra."

"Damn it, Warsaw, you need to know that you're our employee now, you should be thinking about the company's interests!"

"Yes, it's all for the company's benefit. I reminded you before, but no one listened. You used your old methods from the film industry, giving very little development time. The R&D staff are already working day and night, and this is the only product that can come out. You... are the culprits behind the current situation."

"Damn it, is this how you talk? Bushnell, I think Warsaw is responsible for this, fully responsible! He should be fired!"

Warsaw sneered: "Firing me won't save Atari. If you don't change your ways, Atari will be finished sooner or later. Now... I've had enough too."

"You want to resign?"

"Of course not, I'm waiting for you to fire me, that way I can get a large severance package. If the company can even afford that..."

"Get out! Get out now!"

At this point, Gerard had long since lost all patience; he was in a terrible mood.

In the room, only Bushnell and Gerard remained. After a few minutes of silence, Bushnell finally spoke: "I think Warsaw is right. Since being acquired by Warner, we have been driven by capital to release all kinds of games, regardless of quality, only focusing on quantity. We have captured the market, but we have lost our reputation. And once that reputation is lost, it is too difficult to get it back."

This is the case in the United States. Any company engaged in manufacturing, once it gains a market monopoly, will no longer think about market competition. What they want is to enjoy monopoly profits. They will rack their brains to think about how to make money. So, gradually, manufacturing companies will become financial companies.

Atari held a market share of 80%, so they abandoned their pursuit of technological advancement and focused solely on making money. Warner Bros., the parent company, was even less likely to let go of this cash cow, since it was more profitable to produce a game cartridge at a low cost than to painstakingly make a movie.

"Then what do we do now?"

"us……"

Before Bushnell could finish speaking, the door was opened.

“Mr. Gerard, we have just received news that various sales channels across the country have flocked to Pacific Trade Group to order game consoles, and the total number is said to have exceeded five million units.”

"What? Damn it, how could they betray us?"

"Also, they've already started the return process and are returning our game cards..."

If a game cartridge doesn't sell, it's useless, because new game cartridges will be released later. The only outcome of their current returns is that they will end up in landfills!
It's over, it's over!

Gerard plopped down in his chair. It was clear that Huaxin FC was about to rise and would quickly replace Atari's monopoly in the US market, and Warner would suffer a huge blow as a result!

Outside, Christmas Eve was still very lively.

(End of this chapter)